Story

• Read the story.
• What is it about?  Narrate its elements as neutrally as possible.
• What is the heart of the matter?  Identify the heart of the matter by noting where and how the action or tone shifts.  Look particularly for moments of reversal, recognition, climax; be attentive to the structure as well as the content of the story.  Let your own surprise or dismay guide you.  Avoid explanation; let the text be unfamiliar.

 

 

  Image

• Sit with the story, and especially with "the heart of the matter" or central moment of the story, until an image emerges.

 

 

  Situation in Life

• Let the image lead you to an experience in your life.  What is the experience?  Narrate its elements as neutrally as possible; suspend judgment.
• What were your thoughts and feelings in that situation?
• What did you think about it until now?
• What does the image tell you about the situation?  About your interpretation up until this point?  Is that old interpretation confirmed, challenged, revised?

 

 

  Return to Scripture

• Reread your story.  Do you see anything new?
• Has your attitude toward the passage or the characters in it changed?
• Do you hear its message differently now?

 

 

  Return to Life

• What will you take from this story and your reflection on it into your daily life?